Naruto: Propelling for the Stars
by The Leader of Monkeys
Summary: What if two of the Yondaime Hokage's students survived and outlived him instead of one? How different would the little blond haired rascal's life be with someone helping him grow stronger little by little? The little knuckleheaded ninja is reaching for the stars, dattebayo!


**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. **

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"_It has been_ _seven years since my strongest son, the most powerful of all the bijus, the constructs of chakra separated from the Jubi I sealed into my body, got sealed within a boy. Why? Why can't this world live in peace and harmony? How I tried to spread my knowledge and wisdom while war reigned supreme around the world. Endless masses of conflicts and blood stained grass, I've seen it all!" _

"_I made the ultimate sacrifice and created the name Jinchuuriki (human sacrifice) by locking the mightiest biju of them all, the Jubi, the originator of the constructs of chakra and the world itself inside of myself. But a lest I am a mere human, and as such humans cannot live forever, unlike a construct of chakra that cannot die no matter the circumstances, at best one can only deform a biju, but they shall reform within five years, tops."_

"_With the threat of the Jubi possibly reigning over the world after my death, I had no choice but to split its tremendous power into nine parts, in nine different forms. Now… I observe as the humans of this world wrestle for my children's power, it would seem peace cannot be a supreme ruler in the ninja-world. I do worry, watching that blond haired little boy from where I am now in the spirit world holding my dear son within him. If someone of a pure evil heart got their filthy paws on him, they could be the trigger to bringing the apocalypse upon the world."_

"_This has to be avoided at all costs. Perhaps, just maybe, I shall be granted a visit to the world of the living. If only for a few seconds, just to give that boy an edge in life, a tool if one may, to assist him in life. And perhaps he could do something I could not… bring peace to the ninja-world."_

_That was the thoughts of the Rikudou sennin, the original Shinobi no Kami (God of Shinobi)!_

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**Naruto: Propelling for the Stars!**

**Chapter One**

**Hatred Rains Upon The Earth!**

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

A small hand reached out of the blue blanket and grabbed the ringing alarm clock before chucking it at the wall and shattering it to pieces like glass.

"I don't have to go to the stupid academy; I'm great enough as it is." Came the somewhat haughty groan of a seven year old boy whom happened to be not just one of the most despised people within Konoha but also the star of the story.

For reasons he could not comprehend he was hated among his own people. His feet would carry him around the village only to be looked upon with scorn in the eyes of many; maybe it was because of this was why the boy grew up to develop a somewhat arrogant and self-centred demeanour, because he longed for more attention and to prove those douchebags (villagers) wrong about him.

He did have a few people whom the boy loved deeply, consisting of his two sisterly-figures, an old man who happened to own the boy's favourite place of eating, Ichiraku ramen-shop, his brotherly-figure, an old lady at a candy shop, and the Hokage who he saw as a grandfather, but those could only tell the boy so much.

One of his sisterly figures would always tell him once he became a ninja and a really strong one like his brotherly-figure then she would inform him of the reason why those jerks keep glaring at him with such anger it was as if he had stabbed their mothers or something. Seriously, it didn't make any sense to him! He was just a little boy! What could he have done to deserve such treatment?

That was something he wanted to change. He wanted to show those villagers that he was no nuisance and that he existed damn it! Because of them he had no friends, none whatsoever, since the little pip-tweaks played follow the leader, and others just hopped on the Naruto-hating-bandwagon!

But all that would soon change! Fortune would smile on the boy once he grew strong enough to shove his foot up the Hokage's rear end before taking his hat and hopping himself on his throne or whatever the old geezer sat on! Just as soon as he could convince that lazy brother of his to teach him a badass jutsu to make him awesome!

Dattebayo!

The boy's ears wriggled slightly at the sound of the turning of the doorknob before a squeaky noise reverberated throughout his little apartment he lived in all by himself because no orphanage wanted to put up with him.

"Naru-chan!"

The boy, Naruto Uzumaki, stiffened and kept the covers (held) firmly over his head as if trying to hide from the all too familiar feminine voice of a woman he had come to know since he could form words in his mouth.

"Naru-chan!"

The woman's footsteps grew louder, signifying that she was drawing near to his location. Naruto gulped. This lady would pull his tiny feet from right underneath his sheets before dressing him and taking him to that dreaded academy where those mean old teachers wouldn't even help him perform that damnable Bunshin no Jutsu. He did not need that today.

"I'm not going to call out to you again young man."

The door to the young boy's room was abruptly opened up, revealing a silhouette in the door way since the curtains blocked any light from lighting up the messy room of the seven year boy.

"Are you still not up?" She asked rhetorically, receiving no response from Naruto, "I know you're not asleep, Naru-chan." She had her hands firmly planted on her hour-glass figure. "How do you expect to grow up big and strong like Kakashi if you don't attend the academy, and work hard?"

"Don't wanna." Naruto's voice mumbled from underneath the covers.

"I knew you were awake." The woman grinned and Naruto pouted before she walked over to his curtains and pulled them opened, letting the light penetrate his room to reveal his dirty clothes and toys littering the room. She sighed and shook her head at this, she would keep his living room and kitchen tidy for him but there were some things Naruto needed to do for himself, like making sure his room was sparking clean for when she came to wake his lazy-self up, and drag his rear-end to the academy.

The woman was shown to be a very beautiful woman of average-height with a curvaceous-figure to portray her beauty, as well as having two violet coloured orbs for eyes and her long brown hair fell to her upper back. Two tribal-like markings tinted lavender were on either side of her cheeks. Her breasts were an average size of D-cup. Her attire consisted of a black long-sleeved singlet, a small pink skirt, a pouch strapped to her skirt, black-leggings underneath her skirt, and the traditional blue shinobi sandals were on her feet.

She was Rin Hatake. The wife of one of the most feared shinobi that Konoha had ever produced and student to the late, great Yondaime Hokage.

Both Rin and Kakashi were tasked with the responsibility of looking after Naruto, and of course they did not mind since it was a favour of their old sensei himself. They loved Naruto, and always tried to do right by the boy, even at times if he was a pain in the ass, it must be said.

"Come on Naru-chan, you've got to get up now." Rin said, removing the covers off of Naruto with some effort as the little boy held onto them as tightly as he could muster. A look of annoyance was on Naruto's whiskered-face that Rin didn't miss, "What's with that look?" Rin asked, reaching her arms underneath Naruto's armpits to lift the little boy off of his stomach and onto her lap.

"I'm not a baby, I'm a big boy!" Naruto pouted.

Rin cooed as she planted a kiss on Naruto's face that made him grimace cutely as he tried to push himself away from his nee-chan (older sister) to no avail as the older woman fiercely smothered him with kisses like only a mother could.

"You're still my precious little-guy though." Rin smiled at the soaking Naruto who was trying to rid himself of the germs Rin had given him from the pecks she rapidly placed all over his face.

"Ewww. Now I'm gonna get cooties." Naruto frowned, crossing his tiny arms over his chest.

At this, Rin pouted, "Did Kakashi fill your head with that nonsense Naru-chan?" The cheeky cat-grin that found its way to Naruto's face was all the verification Rin needed as she shook her head with a sigh escaping her lips, "I told him to stop filling your head with his lies. He's going to ruin your innocence if he doesn't."

"Kakashi-niichan's cool and all but he won't teach me a jutsu." Naruto complained in Rin's arms, making her giggle at him, "How am I supposed to be a great shinobi if I don't have a super-powered thingy to unleash on the world."

"You know there is one way to become a strong ninja, sweetie." Rin hinted with a wink of mischievousness, making Naruto's eyes light up in excitement.

"Really, what is it Rin-neechan?"

"You have to go to the academy?" Naruto winced aloud at that. He seriously fell hook, line, and sinker into that one. Rin let out another giggle at her precious little brother, "How come you don't want to go to the academy, and learn Naru-chan?"

"Because the stupid teachers won't help me do that stupid jutsu!" Naruto griped.

Rin had a frown her face. "What jutsu is that?" Although she knew, it was a bane of Naruto's, and one he utterly hated with a burning passion!

"That damn Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted.

Rin sighed. For someone like Naruto, he had no chance of ever performing the Bunshin no Jutsu. He already had more chakra in his tiny body then Rin had in hers, for circumstances that were incomprehensible to him but not to Rin or Kakashi. They knew why the tiny boy had a massive amount of chakra within him but unfortunately couldn't inform him of the reason for why he had a ton of power that he could not control due to the law that stated if anyone so much as utters the being capable of bringing the apocalypse upon them was to be slaughtered without a say on their part.

Rin's look of disproven deepened on her face at the Hokage's law, sure it protected her baby brother from a possible breakdown but on the other hand it made it impossible for her to explain to him why so many people within the walls of Konoha wanted nothing to do with him and why he had such huge reserves of chakra in comparison to everyone else.

Something of unimaginable power sealed within Rin's baby boy's body granted him massive reserves of chakra at the cost of controlling that power, and unfortunately for Naruto the jutsu he was attempting to pull off at the academy only required a pinch of chakra at best to perform. It was due to his shoddy control that the little blond boy kept pumping too much chakra in his attempts to make a clone and unintentionally was overloading it.

"I'll tell you what, you go to the academy, and I'll head over to Hokage-sama's office to see if he hasn't got a clone jutsu capable of you learning sweetie." Rin promised.

"Really?" Naruto asked, joy slowly filling his eyes seeing Rin nod, "Thanks Rin-neechan!" Naruto wrapped his arms around Rin's waist and buried his head into her tummy, "You're the best nee-chan ever!" And she was his nee-chan, not yours, dattebayo!

Rin put her hand on Naruto's head and messed his spiky blond hair with a smile on her beautiful face, "Anytime Naru-chan. Now, let's get you ready for the academy," Naruto eagerly nodded his head as Rin helped him off of the bed and lifted up his yellow t shirt over his head and left it on his bed before leading him off to the bathroom.

Naruto became curious about why he was so special, "Rin-neechan, how come I can't perform the stupid Bunshin no Jutsu? Everyone in my class seems to have no problem making at least one clone. Even that lazy ass Shikamaru can make more clones than me. It isn't fair, dattebayo!"

Rin had an ace up the sleeve for when her precious little boy would ask her this question. It was obvious that he would one day become intrigued as to why he couldn't do a basic jutsu which required minimum chakra at best in order to conjure, "It's because you're special Naru-chan?" That confused the blond haired little boy as he tilted his head to the side as if to show his befuddlement, "Some people like you just happen to be born with huge chakra reserves, and it's because of your large reserves is why you can't perform Bunshin no Jutsu, as it only needs a tiny bit of chakra to pull off."

They reached the bathtub and while the little boy was trying to process the info given to him by his nee-chan, Rin switched on the shower. The sound of the running water and the hot stream quickly filling up the room must've triggered Naruto's brain because he snapped his thumb and middle finger together.

"Wait. You're saying I got too much 'catra' or whatever's inside of my body, and that's why I can't do Bunshin no Jutsu." Naruto guessed, not knowing how to pronounce the word chakra properly being only seven years old.

Rin let out a sigh with a smile on her face, "Yes, Naru-chan. And it's chakra, not catra."

"Badass!" Naruto cheered with his arms crossed over his chest and a goofy smile on his whisker-marked face, "In your faces everybody else! Naruto Uzumaki has power!" Rin chuckled at Naruto before the boy had a confused expression on his face. "Wait. If I have more power than everyone else then how come I can't do Bunshin no Jutsu. Wouldn't I be able to make more clones?"

"Well normally, yes, but you see the Bunshin no Jutsu only needs a bit of chakra to do, and because you have an enormous amount of chakra in your body, it's naturally harder for you to control that power, and utilize it effectively."

"You saying I can't control my power!" Naruto exclaimed with a pout of annoyance on his face.

Rin giggled, "Unfortunately, yes, Naru-chan, but have no fear, you're only a small boy, so of course you're not going to be super strong or anything." Naruto's pout increased, "Anyway, it's because of your big chakra levels is why you accidentally end up packing your clone with too much chakra, thus overloading it and failing to complete it successfully."

"Wah! I got too much chakra for my own good!" Naruto whined.

"Don't worry, Naru-chan, if all goes according to plan then this may end up benefiting you." Rin said.

"How so?" Naruto asked.

Rin tapped her nose, "You'll just have to trust me on that one sweetie. Can you do that for me?" Naruto held his chin and droned before holding out his pinkie finger to Rin. Rin smiled, intertwining her own pinkie finger with Naruto's.

"You always told me I had to keep my promises, nee-chan."

"I sure did, and I intend to keep my own to you sweetie."

xXx

(A later that Day)

After Naruto had showered Rin made him a plate of eggs, beans, sausages, and bacon as his breakfast in order for him to grow a little. He had been eating too much ramen and it was stunting his growth. Rin would definitely change that. She had always told herself after her sensei and Naruto's mother passed away that she would take it upon herself to raise Naruto, and to see to it that the boy followed the right path to becoming a respectable member of Konoha.

Right now Rin was holding Naruto's hand and leading him toward the academy. Naruto wore a long sleeved orange shirt underneath a bright yellow gi top, a pair of yellow gi pants held up by an orange obi tied around his waist and a couple of orange sandals on his feet.

The villagers casted their scornful glares on the boy and the woman by his side but he neither cared nor gave a damn about them as Rin fixed them all with an equally cold glare in return before looking down at the little blond haired boy with a lovely smile on her face.

"Would you like anything from the shop before I drop you off at the academy, Naru-chan?" Rin asked.

Naruto nodded his head frantically, "I want two packets of Poifulls. It's my favourite of all the sweets in that old lady's shop."

Rin giggled, "Okay. Let's go get you those sweeties then, sweetie." No pun intended. Naruto cheered as he and Rin ventured to the candy shop around the market district of Konohagakure no Sato, stepping through the door and making a jiggling noise echo through the shop from the top of the door hitting the dangling bells hung at the ceiling in front of the door.

"Ah. Naruto-kun, how are you today?" The warm greeting of an old woman made Naruto grin widely before turning around and looking straight ahead at an old woman with light skin, green hair, and ruby coloured eyes. She wore a bleached yellow long sleeved shirt underneath a green apron, black trousers, and simple geta sandals on her feet. Her long green hair was tied back in a ponytail and a pair of earrings completed her appearance.

"Hey, Grammy!" Naruto yelled brightly. She was one of the few people that didn't utterly hate Naruto's guts for reasons he did not know, and always greeted him with a warm smile whenever he would come in to buy himself his favourite packet of sweets, Poifull. In fact it was because of her was why Naruto adored those delicious sweets so much.

One day when Naruto was feeling down on his luck because none of the other kids wanted to play with him and a couple of the shop-keepers wouldn't let him in their shops, a guardian angel appeared before him in a flash of white light. At least to his mind anyway. She reached out and ruffled the little boy's hair, and reassured him that if he just kept on trying, he would make friends. She even offered him a packet of Poifull out of the kindness of her heart.

Ever since that day, Naruto loved her like the grandmother he never had. He would cling onto any attention she showed to him in a heartbeat because he was an attention-seeker.

"I'm going to go to the academy to kick ass and take numbers!" Naruto roared which elicited a giggle from the old woman and a smile from Rin. Naruto was such an arrogant little boy, but hey, it beat being meekly, and low on confidence. "But first I need some sweets Grammy; I can't become Hokage on an empty stomach now, can I?" Naruto laughed.

The woman shook her head in amusement before turning to Rin, "It's good to see you Rin-san. Tell me how's that slacker of a husband of yours doing?"

Rin chortled lightly at the description of her laid-back husband, "He's doing well obaa-sama. He happens to be on a mission at the moment." Both Rin and Kakashi knew this lady well since the two of them were close to Naruto.

Rin held a great deal of respect toward her for not letting her resentment towards the Fox spirit blind her into thinking that Naruto was like its reincarnation or some nonsense like that. The fact that she gave Rin's baby boy a packet of free sweets without looking for anything in return just solidified Rin's eternal gratitude to the woman who wasn't even a shinobi.

The old lady nodded her head and looked at Naruto who had an expectant look on his adorable face, "And what would my best customer like today?" Grammy asked with a tremendous aura of innocence blazing around her body!

"Wah. Grammy, don't do this to me!" Naruto whined, stomping his little feet down on the ground with Rin and Grammy laughing at him. He could look so cute when he was complaining like that. How the old woman wished her surrogate grandson would never grow up, he could be cute forever!

"It's not funny, Grammy!" Naruto pouted.

"Okay, okay, dear, I was only having a joke with you sweetie. There's no need to get all upset." Naruto let out a huff and crossed his arms over his chest before the old lady reached underneath the counter and pulled out a couple of blue packets of Poifulls, making him smile as he dashed over to her in a show of speed comically, "Well. I take it this was what you wanted?"

"YAY, sweets!" Naruto cheered and went to snatch them off of her, but was halted by Rin's hand.

"Where're your manners, Naru-chan?" Rin asked chidingly, receiving a gulp from Naruto.

"Can I have those sweeties… please?" Naruto asked, puckering his bottom lip out and softening his eyes to give her the old puppy dog eyes trick.

"Of course you can." Grammy said and Naruto giggled joyously as Grammy gave him the two packets of Poifulls. She could see Rin reaching into her purse she took out of her pouch to give her the money for the sweets, "You can pay the usual amount for one dear." She offered.

"Are you sure?" Rin blinked at her as she held the money for two Poifulls at the old lady, "I have more than enough for both."

Grammy waved her hand in a dismissive manner, "Of course dear. I wanted to give a gift to my favourite customer anyway, so this is really convenient for the both of us."

"Oh. Well thank you obaa-sama." Rin bowed respectfully at the old lady who smiled kindly at her as she took the amount for one packet of Poifull off of Rin after the brunette stood up straight. Rin looked at Naruto and lightly grabbed his shoulder, "Say your thanks to obaa-sama sweetie."

"Thanks Grammy, you're the best!" Naruto grinned with a thumbs-up at Grammy, making her chuckle as she had a look of reminiscence on her old wrinkly face. With that Rin and Naruto waved their goodbyes at Grammy who returned it in kind and observed as Rin and Naruto left the premises with Naruto clutches his sweets closely to his chest.

"Kids nowadays, hehe."

xXx

(With Rin and Naruto)

"Thanks again Rin-neechan!" Naruto said as he hurriedly tried to open his packet of Poifull to no avail while following Rin towards the academy.

Rin looked at Naruto, "What makes you say that Naru-chan?"

"Well you were the one who said I have to use manners." Naruto grinned up at her, making a look of realization appear on Rin's face before a smile came to her face.

"That's right. Someone has a good memory, I see." Rin spoke in a jesting manner as she ruffled Naruto's hair and noticed the frustrated look on his face as he tried to open one of his sweet packets while the other one was in his gi top, "Let me help you with that." Rin gently took the packet off of Naruto, kneeling down to show him how to open a packet of Poifull.

"If you pinch the packet like so," Rin started to demonstrate as Naruto stared intently at her, "You can find it easier to open packets like this one," Rin easily pulled open the packet of jelly-beans and handed it to Naruto.

"Thank you Rin-neechan! You're amazing! I dunno what I would do without you!" Naruto said as he began to contently munch on his colourful jelly beans.

Rin kissed Naruto's nose and stood up, placing her hand on his shoulder before leading him to the academy once again. One could kiss Naruto for an eternity, and he wouldn't complain so long as he was doing one of two things. Firstly, stuffing his face with barbeque pork ramen, because ramen was for the win! Secondly, was munching his face again but with his favourite brand of sweets of all time, Poifulls!

"I can't imagine a day without making your life easier for you Naru-chan." Rin informed Naruto, raising an eyebrow once she felt a tug on her pink skirt. She glanced downward to see Naruto with a mouth full of jellybeans while he held one in particular upward to her to take. It was the same colour of her tribal-like markings on her face.

"Well thank you sweetie. I appreciate that." Rin gratefully took the purple jelly bean from Naruto's hand and put it in her mouth, smiling at Naruto as she did so, which the little boy returned in kind. Both Rin and Naruto continued onward until they came to a huge mountain with four faces engraved into it as if they were the guardians that watched over the happenings within the walls of Konoha.

"Look Rin-neechan." Naruto alerted, pulling on Rin's skirt, "The Hokage monument." Rin bent down to Naruto's level and looked up at the faces of the previous and current Hokages of Konohagakure no Sato.

"That's right Naru-chan. It is. Have you still got plans to surpass all of those great men sweetie?" Rin asked.

"You betcha I am. I'll be the best Hokage this village has ever seen… dattebayo!" Naruto declared thunderously, throwing his arms out to the side in all his haughty glory, getting Rin to giggle as a set of footsteps was heard from behind her, putting her on guard as she protectively wrapped her arms around Naruto. No one would ever hurt her precious baby boy while she was around!

"Ah. Rin-san. I see you're taking Naruto-kun to the academy, it must be pleasant." Rin gasped in surprise at the familiar voice while Naruto just grinned happily.

"Itachi!" Naruto shouted, squirming out of Rin's now loose hold on him to see a tall teenage boy with light black hair that could be considered grey. His face was defined looking like he had his nose area pressed in to give off the appearance that he had an X-scar around his nose. He wore a short grey t shirt underneath a sleeveless battle-armour-top, black cargo trousers, a headband wrapped his forehead, a katana sheathed to his back and a pair of black shinobi sandals on his feet.

Itachi gave the boy a smile, "It's good to see you too, Naruto-kun. Sasuke-kun had been eager to see you today at the academy."

"That jerk's just asking for an ass whooping. He thinks he's all hot stuff and everything's so easy for him to do and whatnot!" Naruto frowned with his arms crossed over his chest. Rin giggled as she stood up and put a hand on Naruto's head.

"But Naru-chan, you yourself believe the academy's too easy for you as well." Rin reminded the boy of his own arrogance with a chiding wag of her free index finger.

"No! I'm not like that." Naruto attempted to defend himself, "I've got something called… skill?" He sounded like it was asking that before his lofty attitude returned supercharged up, "Yeah! I'm all about the skilfulness, dattebayo!"

Rin giggled sweetly at her baby boy before turning to Itachi, "So what are you up to, Itachi? And how's Mikoto-sama?" Mikoto Uchiha was one of the strongest kuroichis Konoha ever produced alongside her best friend Kushina. Although the title of the most powerful female ninja ever to come out of Konoha's academy had to go to Tsunade one of the sannin. But Mikoto and Kushina were both strong in their own rights.

Itachi didn't miss the way Rin omitted his father from her question since Fugaku was one of the many Uchiha clan members that wanted nothing more than to eradicate her husband as he was a bane of theirs due to what was in his left eye-socket. It didn't really bother Itachi because he wasn't like most Uchiha-members, he didn't hold their arrogance and only wished for the clan to coexist peacefully with the other members of Konoha's populace.

However, the Uchiha-clan as a whole want more and that was a problem Itachi sought to put an end to, especially after the discussion he had with his father. He could picture it as clear as day, complete and utter eradication of Hiruzen Sarutobi the current Hokage.

The aloof Uchiha couldn't say that he didn't see it coming and now he had a report to file to the old man targeted by the Uchihas' wrath. All other members including Itachi's father do not know the boy's true identity as a double agent for the Hokage.

Itachi Uchiha was an enigma to all!

"Mother's fine and I've just dropped Sasuke-kun off at the academy." Itachi told Rin, but Naruto heard him.

"I'm gonna beat Sasuke today, beat him so bad he won't even know what hit him." Naruto assured and Rin laughed while Itachi remained cool and collected.

"I'm afraid I must be off now, I need to file a report to Hokage-sama." Itachi said.

"Oh phooey, I was hoping to see Sarutobi-sama and ask him for a clone jutsu to show Naru-chan." Rin stated. Reports could always be so darn troublesome as one could never know how long they could take.

Itachi was aware of Naruto's status of Konoha's Jinchuuriki-boy even if the boy wasn't and spoke up, "In that case I shall ask Hokage-sama for you Rin-san." It was the least he could do since Naruto was good friends with his little brother Sasuke even if the boys didn't want to admit it.

Rin blinked a couple of times before hugging Itachi happily, which the stoic one returned emotionlessly, "Thank you! Naru-chan and I really appreciate that! Okay, say goodbye to Itachi-kun sweetie." Rin said to Naruto.

"Bye Itachi!" Naruto yelled. "And thanks for everything!"

"Sayanoya Naruto-kun. Play nice with Sasuke-kun once you get to the academy now." Itachi smiled and Naruto pouted before Itachi nodded at Rin and left the duo to stroll through the huge gates of Sarutobi's tower while Rin pointed at a building very close to the Hokage's tower. Both the building Rin was pointing at and the Hokage's tower that Itachi sauntered into had fire kanjis on their roofs.

"We're almost there now, sweetie." Rin assured him.

"Yay! It's show-off time now!" Naruto raced ahead to the academy, making Rin shake her head in amusement as she followed her baby boy, her bundle of joy and energy, at a noticeably more leisured pace with her arms behind her back.

"…I just haven't got your stamina Naru-chan."

xXx

(With Itachi)

Itachi Uchiha was dubbed to be a one in a kind genius among his fellow clansmen. He graduated the academy at the tender age of seven and mastered his sharingan at age eight and enrolled in ANBU-forces half a year later and became captain by age thirteen! And to think it all started when Itachi had witnessed hundreds of lives taken to the slaughter-house like lambs during the Third Great Shinobi War when he was only four years old, effectively traumatizing him.

Maybe that was an excuse for why Itachi did not share his clan's selfish vision of ruling over Konoha. He wanted them to live among the other clans peacefully, to let go of their hatred and to attempt to move on in despite of the fact how scorned they were in the eyes of many.

But no, their arrogance was on an ungodly level because every member of the Uchiha-clan including his dear mother was behind his father and his foolish plan for Konoha-domination. Not only would Fugaku be sending his own men to their graves against the powerful Hokage but he would also be risking the lives of innocent children.

This was something that had to be prevented at all costs. Itachi had already seen enough blood. He didn't particular desire to see any more than necessary.

As Itachi treaded closer toward Hiruzen's office he came upon his secretary in the form of a beautiful young lady, "Evening madam, but could you let Hokage-sama know I'm here to deliver my report to him." Itachi said politely.

"Of course Uchiha-san, it'll just be a moment." Itachi nodded as the woman pressed a button on her transmitter and spoke into it, "Hokage-sama, Uchiha-san's here and has requested a visit to see you. Shall I send him in?"

It took a moment but soon an old masculine voice came through the radio transmitter in reply, "_Yes. Send Itachi-kun in."_

"Hokage-sama will see you now." The secretary said and Itachi bowed his head to her before taking a deep breath to collect himself. He stepped forward and prepared to dish out the information that would shake Konoha to its very foundations if not more so.

XxX

(Rin and Naruto)

"Here we are Naru-chan!" Rin declared, standing outside of a building with the same fire sign as the Hokage's tower. Naruto nodded as he kept his eyes locked on the form of a boy with black spiky hair wearing a black short-sleeved t shirt underneath a long sleeved purple jumper, black shorts reaching his knees, black sandals on his feet and a skateboard under his arm.

He was causally leaning against the wall with one leg cocked up against the wall.

"Sasuke!" Naruto identified the boy as Sasuke Uchiha.

Sasuke looked at Naruto, "Hey, man, you already to blitz through this thing yet?" Sasuke asked with a grin on his face.

"Yeah man! I'm gonna put you to shame with my mad skills!" Naruto shouted as he ran over to Sasuke.

"Put me to shame? What are you on about fool? The last time I checked you couldn't even pull off a Bunshin no Jutsu." Sasuke reminded him.

"That's because I got too much chakra in me!" Naruto shouted.

"Really?" Sasuke asked with a confused expression on his face.

"Yeah. That's what Rin-neechan says. She would never lie to me. She's the best. She's better than your mama!" Naruto stated.

"My momma? Bitch please. My momma's amazing!" Sasuke exclaimed haughtily, pushing Naruto as the two began to venture inside of the academy with Rin watching the two play-fight as if they were brothers.

Even with Naruto's desire to prove he was the best there was he couldn't deny the fact that he had a kind heart willing to let anyone in if they wanted to. Sasuke Uchiha happened to be a leader, not a follower. He didn't jump on the Naruto-hating-bandwagon. If one was cool and fun to be around, then one was A-Okay in Sasuke Uchiha's book.

"No. Compared to my nee-chan she's nothing but dog-poo on the floor." Naruto quipped, stuffing more jellybeans into his mouth until he was out of jellybeans to eat. He threw it in a nearby bin and kept on arguing with Sasuke.

"The people look up to my momma for her amazing speed and battle prowess! She hasn't even used her sharingan because she's _that _good!" Sasuke argued. "What's your nee-chan got that can topple that?"

Naruto pouted as he and Sasuke reached the door-way to the academy, but stopped when Rin's voice called out to Naruto, "Bye Naru-chan! Be good now, and I'll buy you some sweets when I come to pick you up later!"

Naruto turned around and waved at Rin, "Bye, bye Rin-neechan!"

Sasuke checked his pockets, pulling them out with a defeated sigh escaping his lips, "If I had some money, I would spend it on biscuits. Those pink wheelie ones, they taste amazing!"

Naruto grimaced at Sasuke as the two walked through the halls of the academy, "Ewww! You like pink! You're girly!"

"Shut up, Naruto! Those biscuits are amazing! Have you ever tasted them?" Sasuke asked heatedly.

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest with a confident smile on his face. "I don't need to taste them to know that they are nasty!" Sasuke pouted at Naruto as the two reached the classroom, making Naruto groan, "I hate class."

"Me too, it's no fun at all doing boring paper work." Sasuke stated.

Naruto looked at him with a wide grin on his face, "Is that why you decided to wait for me _homie!"_

Sasuke cringed, "The girls are talking about something I don't understand. Either-way, they aren't fun to be around."

"But it's fun to be around me. Well if you like getting your face dirty after I wipe the playground with you." Sasuke jestingly punched Naruto on his arm and urged him to open up the door, "Alrighty then. Just saying Sasuke, I'm aiming for the stars!"

Once the door opened up, a tan-skinned man was seen with brown hair tied back in a spiky ponytail. He had a scar running across the bridge of his nose and a blue leaf forehead protector proudly displayed on his forehead. He wore a long-sleeved dark blue jumper with a red swirl mark on the side of it that was also on the back of the man's green flak jacket, blue trousers, and blue sandals on his feet.

He was Iruka Umino, a chunin teacher of the academy determined to teach the little rascals the shinobi arts and get them out of his hair for the next bunch of snot nosed brats to come in and equally annoy him.

"Sasuke, Naruto, you're late. What are your excuses this time?" The man asked with a deadpan look written all over his features.

Sasuke walked in, "Sorry, gramps, we got lost contemplating how easy it would be to breeze through this class." The girls swooned at his coolness and a blond haired girl and pink haired girl stared dreamily at Sasuke.

The pink haired girl had a red ribbon tied over her hair like a hairband meant to display her rather huge forehead. She had leaf green eyes that turned into hearts the moment Sasuke walked into the classroom. She wore a blue jumper, brown denim trousers, and blue sandals on her feet.

She was Sakura Haruno, and unlike the other kids she didn't have a couple of shinobi for parents and instead her ones were just normal civilians that were extremely proud of their little girl for making her own way to greatness by enrolling into the academy.

The other girl also had short hair that fell to her shoulders like Sakura but it was blond as she wore an orange short-sleeved t shirt, a pair of purple pants, and a couple of sandals. This particular girl belonged to a tribe like most other kids in the academy, and she was good friends with Sakura until Sasuke came into the picture.

She was Ino Yamanaka of the Yamanaka clan.

The man, Iruka Umino, a chunin instructor of the academy, rolled his eyes at the duo, "Okay. Fine. Take your seats and try to not disturb the class." The boys fist bumped each other, something which confused the rest of the class since Naruto was the class clown and Sasuke was the good looking cool boy, but it did kind of make sense since Sasuke was also goofy and enjoyed acting his age like Naruto.

Sasuke and Naruto bounced to the very top of the desks with Sasuke stopping momentarily as the pink haired girl grabbed his hand and shyly offered him a carton of apple juice to which he took.

"I got you some juice Sasuke-kun." Sakura said meekly, shyly holding the carton of apple juice out to Sasuke for him to take off of her.

"Oh. Cheers." Sasuke replied nonchalantly, making Sakura blush as she felt her finger-tips brush against Sasuke's when the boy took the carton of apple juice off of her.

Hey, if she was so willing to share then he would be willing to oblige. The boy didn't notice Ino fix Sakura a glare for giving Sasuke-kun a gift.

She would've shouted but the chunin teacher coughed into his hand and class resumed once the lads took their seats and lifted their legs onto the desks while folding their arms behind their heads in a lazy manner, it was all too easy for them.

"Let's begin shall we…" Iruka started.

XxX

(Later That Day in Hiruzen's Office)

"The Uchiha clan must be decimated immediately, Sarutobi." Recommended an old man with bandages wrapped around his forehead wearing a light blue kimono, a black robe thrown over his left side held closed by a light yellow obi, geta sandals on his feet and a walking-cane in his hand.

He had a distinctive x scar on his chin and black spiky hair, anyone who knew him would know he was Danzo Shimura, Shinobi no Yami (The darkness of Shinobi), willing to go to any length to assure that the village of Konohagakure no Sato, one of the strongest villages in the Elemental Nations, was safe at all costs.

Danzo along with two other elderly folks, a woman and a male, acted as advisors to the old man sitting by a desk with a triangle shaped hat on his head wearing a red and white kimono suit. That old man happened to be the current ruler of Konohagakure no Sato, the Sandaime Hokage, Shinobi no Kami (God of Shinobi), the Purofessā (The Professor), Sarutobi Hiruzen.

The man had his picture firmly planted on the wall of his office wedged between the late Yondaime Hokage, who 'honourably' died ensnarling the mighty construct of chakra within a blond haired baby at the time, and his predecessor, the Nidaime Hokage, Tobirama Senju.

Oh… how Hiruzen wanted to take a nice relaxing vacation with his wife, Biwako Sarutobi, at this very point in time. Heck he really should be resting his old bones, not stressing what to do about a clan which had gone totally insane! This was mentioned to the four elders sitting within Hiruzen's office by Itachi Uchiha who acted as a double-agent for the Hokage. The Uchiha-clan had no idea that Itachi had more or less betrayed them for Konoha.

Unfortunately, Sarutobi was trapped within this job due to the attack of the Kyuubi seven years ago after some mysterious masked-man released it from its confines of its jailor that was the Yondaime Hokage's wife. The masked-man tragically murdered Hiruzen's wife who was helping with the birth of the new Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko, young Naruto Uzumaki.

It was saddening that young Naruto Uzumaki would never get to see his parents as once a Biju got ripped out of its container, the human-jailer died shortly afterward. And of course his father used a sealing technique that cost him his life putting half the Fox-spirit inside of Naruto and himself, at least those were Minato's last words to Hiruzen once the old man caught up to him and his already dead wife.

Minato begged the old Hokage that the precious jailor of the monstrous Fox be viewed as something of a hero, a legend, a godly baby, for assuring that many more people kept their lives due to him holding the beast within the confines of his gut. However, dead men don't always get what they wanted.

As soon as Hiruzen spread the news that the villagers' dead Yondaime Hokage threw his life away for their sake(s) by ensnarling the Kyuubi inside of Naruto, their scorn and pure hatred fell upon the whiskered-faced boy like a rainy day utterly flooding a ravine.

Hiruzen was aware of the fact.

He had a feeling that people would resent Naruto for something that he had no control over. People could be so emotional, especially after losing their most cherished ones to the very being locked within the object of their hatred. People could not let go of their hatred, but then again If one lost one's loved one, one doesn't simply shrug it off as 'shit happens'.

Naturally there would be those who would hold pure anger in the pits of their tummies, and would be willing to take that anger out on the very thing even resembling the cause of their hatred and sadness, and in this case it happened to be the very Jinchuuriki of the reason for why they felt such rage.

In the desperate hope that Naruto could somehow live a normal life Hiruzen made a law declaring that those who spoke of the Kyuubi no Yoko were to be executed on the spot. It didn't exactly work in the way the old man wanted it to, as the civilians shied away from Naruto while casting their glares at the boy, and logically, their children followed their examples, leaving poor Naruto alone.

One may wonder what did this have to do with the reason for why the Uchiha-clan had to be annihilated as Danzo recommended. It all went back to the rampage of the Fox. Ever since that day the Uchiha-clan were ridiculed just as badly, if not worse, than Naruto. And without a word from the Hokage protecting some of the more unfortunate members of Konoha's most hated clan found themselves on the receiving end of a beating.

Hiruzen regarded the Uchiha-clan with empathy, knowing it may not have been their fault for why the Kyuubi infiltrated Konoha but at the same time it could've been since the Fox spirit was mentioned by the defending shinobi doing battle against it that it had sharingan-eyes.

They were all just other pawns for the distraught civilians and even shinobi to a certain extent to vent their rage and fury at, backing the members of the most despised clan within the walls of Konohagakure no Sato into a corner. It was because of this was why the four elders sitting within Hiruzen's office had thoughts of dread running through their heads as most of the members of the Uchiha-clan began to act aloof, and only conversed with those of the Uchiha-clan.

Well that only implied to the older generation as the younger ones naturally couldn't remember the Kyuubi-attack.

They even went as far as to refuse to cooperate with any shinobi outside of the clan when requested of the Hokage to go on a mission in order for them to slowly rise to the top.

It seemed they all had no plans of crawling their way back within Konoha's good books, as their most talented member in a long time acted as an undercover agent for the Hokage and reported everything on the Uchiha-clan's development to the old man at the summit so to speak.

And this was how the debate of what to do with the Uchiha-clan came up.

"What Itachi-san informed us of is highly disturbing news, one cannot deny, Hiruzen." An tan-skinned old man agreed with Danzo. This bespectacled old man had grey hair along with grey sideburns and a grey beard, wore dark yellow garbs, and sandals on his feet.

Hiruzen's frown deepened as he mulled over Itachi's words. If this latest development was allowed to see the light of day, then Konohagakure no Sato would be waged in a civil war with the Uchiha-clan. Millions of innocent children who had nothing to do with the 'fall' of the Uchiha-clan would perish amidst the fiery attacks of the Uchiha-clan.

Top of that other villagers would eventually see the state that Konohagakure no Sato was in and take advantage of that by launching a full on invasion of their own. Iwagakure no Sato had meat with Konoha after Minato, notoriously known as Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō (Konoha's Yellow Flash), speedily dislocated several of their solders' necks by using Tobirama's jutsu, the Hiraishin no Jutsu, to blindingly appear behind their backs.

Hiruzen was sure they were just itching for a chance to saunter over to Konoha and dance on the dead bodies of the poor fools they would inevitably kill.

The Uchiha-clan throwing a hissing fit because they couldn't get their way had thrown a serious wrench in the works.

"Sarutobi-dono." The elderly woman of the four spoke up seeing the contemplated look on Hiruzen's face as the old man rested his elbows on his desk and cupped his hands together near his mouth. The woman had her hair tied in the traditional Japanese bun with two pearls dangling off of the side of her bun. Two ear-rings were hung on her ears as she wore a brown yukata held closed by an obi (tied) around her waist and geta sandals on her feet.

This was Koharu Utatane, and like Homura Mitokado, she was once a teammate of the Sandaime Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi. Now she assisted him in making the right choices to benefit Konohagakure no Sato.

"You know as well as I do the dire consequences of letting the Uchiha-clan attempt this coup d'etat as Itachi-san had spoken of. Mercifulness is the last of our worries now." The woman's tone was cold and her face was strict as her eyes seemed permanently closed. "Vulnerability will be of highest concern if this war comes to fruition."

Homura let out a hum of agreement with his fellow Konoha council member, "Yes. I agree with Koharu. It can't be stressed enough of what would happen if other villagers got wind of our problems down here. They may seize their hands on the Jinchuuriki-boy, and then what eh?"

"No one's getting Naruto." Hiruzen resorted firmly, he loved that blond haired bundle of sunshine like the second grandson he never had.

"How can you be so sure of that Hiruzen?" Danzo questioned his old rival with a hint of wryly humour in his voice. Danzo realized a long time ago that his old adversary for the throne of Hokage for always so soft. If it was up to him then he would've obliterated the seed before it had time to spout and pollute the populace with its hatred.

In this case the Uchiha-clan was the rotted seed that needed to be expunged to assure that any chance of its vile poison from harming the environment was stopped in its progression stage.

"If you want reassurance of the Uzumaki-child's life as well as everyone else's within the village then the eradication of the entire of Uchiha-clan must be seen to its completion." Danzo didn't even want to debate this as he kept his old wrinkly face clean of any disgusting emotions, "They'll be the source of terrible things befalling this village, this you know of, Hiruzen. They can't tame their emotions. Emotions lead to hatred and hatred leads to war. It's simple logic."

"Not everyone can suppress their emotions like you Danzo." Hiruzen countered, his expression remained calm while Danzo merely lifted his shoulders up before putting them back down in a careless manner.

"There's still the matter of the Uchiha-clan though." Homura reminded them, "If this gets out of hand then the Leaf village could spiral into war, due to the Uchiha-clan's arrogance. But say, if you order Itachi to wipe out his clan, peace can reign once again."

"You are aware of what that would do to the child are you not?" Hiruzen said, eyes shifting over to Homura at his suggestion without a hint of emotion on his face.

"The boy has proven loyal to Konoha, that much cannot be denied." Koharu defended Homura's idea of using the distant Uchiha to send his fellow clansmen to the slaughter-house, "Wouldn't it make sense to ask him to make the ultimate sacrifice of betraying his clan and bestowing himself the 'shame' of branding himself the title of nuke-nin."

Hiruzen leaned backward, grabbing the knob of his desk, pulling it outward to reveal a pipe inside of it before grabbing said pipe and bringing it out of his drawer. He shut the draw, and slithered his hand inside of his robe to get his lighter from it before using the lighter to light-up his pipe.

The pipe hit the edges of his lips while he attempted to sit back and turn his gaze at the ceiling in a leisured manner. He exhaled some tobacco after inhaling it while his mind pondered on what was the best course of action on how to deal with the Uchiha-clan.

He couldn't rebuke the proven fact that Itachi Uchiha, the prodigy of the Uchiha-clan, was wholeheartedly committed to Konohagakure no Sato. He did not inherit the clan's haughty attitude and was truly content with being placed in the back section of Konoha while many other Uchiha-members complained about the treatment dealt to them by the Nidaime Hokage Tobirama.

Hiruzen always believed his predecessor made the right choice in making the Uchiha-clan one of great importance by bestowing them a job of prominence. They were the police force. One would think such an honour would humble the tribe of Kekkai-genkai wielders; however, this was not the case.

Itachi's father, who was the head of the Uchiha-clan and Chief of Police force, had demanded of Hiruzen (more or less) that the worthless riff-raff (in his words, not Hiruzen's) show the Uchiha-clan the respect that they deserved and being an outstanding race that he'd the honour of leading to greatness that they be moved to a more fitting place deserving of a clan such as themselves.

The bottom-line was, the Uchiha-clan weren't team-players, and that was a problem.

On the contrary, an equal troubling issue in having Itachi commit treason against his own tribe was his little brother, Sasuke Uchiha. Hiruzen wasn't blind. He knew the aloof Uchiha cherished and held his baby brother above all else. Honestly, Hiruzen wasn't sure if Itachi could go ahead and murdered the entire Uchiha-clan. Add to the fact the pure innocence among some of the clan-members such as children and babies.

If it came to it then Hiruzen himself could bath them in the flames of his katon jutsus (fire techniques), and console himself, telling himself that it was for the greater good. After all the old man didn't get the name Shinobi no Kami without showing an unmerciful side to him every now and then.

But he was old. And he would rather not resort to that bloodshed if it could be avoided.

Hiruzen turned to look at a picture of the Shodai Hokage, Hashirama Senju. That man and his younger brother, Tobirama Senju, taught Hiruzen everything he knew of chakra and the way of the world and how at times one would inevitably be forced to put their own personal feelings aside and do what was a must for the greater good.

'What would you do, sensei?' Hiruzen stared at Hashirama's picture for a moment as if it could offer him a small amount of light in the dark tunnel he found himself in while his fellow elders patiently waited for his decision.

"Well Hiruzen?" Danzo eventually asked after a few minutes of contemplation past with each thinking of what Hiruzen's final decision would be. Ultimately, it rested on his shoulders, _as he _was the _hokage, the boss, the leader, the king_… anyway one wanted to say it meant no difference.

The decision was made by him and him alone.

The others could only offer guidance to him.

Hiruzen stood up, making Homura and Koharu flinch at his sudden movement as the tension within his office was thick like no one business, "I shall be paying a visit to Fugaku-san to see if we can't come to a peaceful agreement."

"Is that really wise Hiruzen-sama?" Koharu asked and flinched as Hiruzen fixed her with a stern gaze. She coughed to regain her composure. She could've sworn she felt the Shinobi no Kami's chakra spike if only slightly, the man could be scary powerful at times, "There's no telling how he will act to the news that one of his own, his son and a star member no less, betrayed him in favour of Konoha."

Hiruzen gave her a hum as he started sauntering toward the door, but halted in his advancement to it once a remembrance of his earlier mistake was recalled by Danzo, "Don't be so hasty now, Hiruzen. You do remember what happened the last time you allowed a corrupted shinobi to roam free did you not?"

A dark gleam shadowed Hiruzen's eyes. He didn't need to be reminded of his failure in not killing Orochimaru. He truly believed his old student was a golden-boy, a diamond in the rough that simply had a hard life. His judgement was far off as he discovered nine years ago that Orochimaru was making test subjects out of missing children he himself had kidnapped beforehand.

Orochimaru had gone completely insane! He even informed Hiruzen that he would live forever, and obtain every single jutsu known to men in the ninja-world!

And now he was out there somewhere, probably massacring some poor shinobi for his power and skills. Hiruzen should've ended Orochimaru's life when he had the chance. But he just couldn't. Memories of Hiruzen training Orochimaru and two other kids that were known as today as the legendary sannin flashed through Hiruzen's mind.

Hiruzen remembered how much pride he felt when he had heard that his three students had not only survived a counter with Sanshōuo no Hanzo, but also had been given the nickname by said powerful shinobi the legendary sannin in accomplishment for being the only ones of the handful of shinobi that faced Sanshōuo no Hanzo, and lived to tell the tale.

"That won't happen. I will _kill _the Uchiha-clan myself before I allow another Orochimaru to roam free around the world." Hiruzen declared darkly, showing the three that he was still the Shinobi no Kami even if these years of peace as softened him considerably, 'Perhaps I can pay a visit to young Naruto-kun after I get through dealing with Fugaku-san.' Itachi did tell Hiruzen that Naruto couldn't pull off the Bunshin no Jutsu, understandably so.

Hiruzen would put an end to this ludicrous rebellion and see his surrogate grandson afterward.

Because he was the Shinobi no Kami.

* * *

**Yeah. It's a bit of an AU story with Rin being alive and Obito presumed to be deceased. I will get around to explaining what the Mist ninja did or what happened to them when they infiltrated Konoha.**

**Sasuke will be with Sakura and maybe Ino, but I'm considering just leaving him with Sakura. Naruto's girl will be a surprise. But I can tell you it won't be Hinata.**

**And the boys won't be a pair of super-powered ninjas. They will be balanced.**


End file.
